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RESTAURANT STRATEGY
The Owner Is the Bottleneck
00:17:26
#549 - The Owner Is the Bottleneck ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: MARGIN EDGEVISIT: https://www.marginedge.com/lp/chip ***** Get this straight: You are the one holding your business back. ***** If you want to snag a copy of Chip's book, The Restaurant Marketing Mindset... CLICK HERE: https://www.therestaurantmarketingmindset.com/ If you're ready to learn more about the P3 Mastermind... CLICK HERE: https://www.restaurantstrategypodcast.com/p3-mastermind-program If you want a free 30-day trial of our Restaurant Foundations Membership Site... CLICK HERE: https://www.restaurantstrategypodcast.com/Foundations-b If you want to leave a 5-star rating/review on Apple Podcasts... CLICK HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/restaurant-strategy/id1457379809
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Hey there, Chip Close here, founder of Restaurant Strategy, host here of the Restaurant Strategy Podcast. And I've just returned from a week long retreat, the very first P3 leadership retreat. I hosted it in Tulum, Mexico. We rented a massive villa and hosted 17 restaurant owners for an entire week. A week of deep work and relaxation. Members of the P3 program. Today's topic about owners being the bottleneck is near and dear to my heart because we talked about this topic every single, single day. See, most restaurant owners believe that their biggest problem is staffing or marketing or their margins or their competition. But the uncomfortable truth is this. The owner is almost always the bottleneck when it comes to profitability and especially growth. And it's not because you're lazy. It's not because you don't care. It's because you've unintentionally designed a business around yourself. So today we're gonna talk about why that happens. And mostly we're gonna talk about some ways to fix it. All of that on today's episode of Restaurant Strategy. There's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown. This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who'. Foreign. Thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close. I am your host here of the Restaurant Strategy podcast. By now you know me. I give talks, I write books, I. I run a membership program called Restaurant Foundations. I also host my signature program called the P3 mastermind. Over 130 members currently enrolled in the program, including 10 that are part of the P3 plus program. So two different ways we administer the same program. If you are struggling to grow your business and you're struggling to dial in profits so that you can grow your business, then it's time for us to have a conversation. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule Go grab time on the calendar and let's just ask each other a bunch of questions and see if it's a good fit again. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule to learn more about the P3 mastermind and our P3 Plus Course program. Now, do you know what the cost is on your third best selling entree? With Margin Edge, you could know that food cost percentage instantly. See, Margin Edge is a complete restaurant management software that I recommend to all of the P3 members, anyone looking to improve their profitability. With Margin Edge, you just snap pictures of your invoices as they come in and you get Real time data for every area of your business. You can see plate costs in real time. You get a daily P and L. Your inventory count sheets are automatically updated. I'm telling you, it saves you a ton of time and it lets you make really informed decisions. I have a client, Gather Brewing. They're down outside of San Antonio. They just opened a second location in Boise. They started using Margin Edge at their first location and within 30 days their food costs went from 38% to 28%. I don't have to tell you what that means for the profitability of the restaurant. There's a reason I recommend this software. Margin Edge is perfect for so many of you out there. I recommend it because I know it works. If you're interested in learning more or if you want to see how Gather brewing went from 38% to 28% food costs, head over to Marginedge.com chip. You watch a really cool video that they shot down at the brewery. Again, margin edge.com chip. And yes, that link is in the show notes. Now today we're talking about bottlenecks. And bottlenecks are created with the best of intentions. Let's start with compassion, right? Most owners become bottlenecks in their businesses because they're capable, because they're fast, they're experienced, they have all the answers. So when something needs to be done, it's just easier for them to step in and do it themselves. Sound familiar? It should. Because I know from talking to so many of you out there, this resonates deeply. And the thing is that, that jumping in, that, that hero, right, that works until it doesn't. And see, being essential is not the same thing as being effective. And owners, at least the ones I talk to, often confuse being needed with being valuable. See, if the restaurant only runs when you are present, well, see, that's not leadership, that is dependency. And dependency is fragile. There's this saying, and it's floating around a bunch now in entrepreneurs circles, but it says that the more valuable you are to your business, the less valuable your business actually is. Is because if you step off the curb and get hit by a bus, then how does the restaurant go on without you? How does your family still get their, their money to pay for their house and the cars and the schools and all of that. The more valuable you are to your business, the less valuable it actually is. So you stepping out and taking a 30,000 foot view is actually the most responsible, respectful thing you can do. Actually the most compassionate thing you can do. See, every time you step in, you're actually stepping over someone or stepping on someone, and it's subtle what we're talking about now, but it's also painful, meaning when you solve problems, then managers stop having to decide. The staff stops escalating properly, systems stop forming, meaning you get those taps on your shoulder. Instead of the bartender going to their manager, they just go right over and come to you and they're like, hey, hey, boss, can I chat with you for a second? That's not how it's supposed to go. We go up the chain it comes, man, right? When your managers stop problem solving because you do it all for them, then they actually become less engaged, less, less powerful, less useful there. And that's when they move on, when they don't feel needed, when they don't feel valued, then they're going to move on to somewhere where they are needed, where they are valued. So again, it's a subtle shift and it can be painful because when you solve the problems, it affects your managers, your staff, and ultimately the systems that are in place or hopefully to make your restaurant run. And it's not because people are incapable. Quite the opposite, because you taught them they don't need to be. See, bottlenecks show up as, quote, unquote, busy. And I think owners love to say, well, man, I'm slammed, or I can't step away, man. It all comes to me. See, that's the signal. Bottlenecks feel like busyness, but they're actually design flaws. You have not set up your business properly. That systematic approach, right, that we do this and this and this to get the desired outcome is how you grow, is how you scale. It's how you make profitability automatic. Now, profitability gets spread around however you see fit. It can get reinvested in expansion. It can be spread out to your team as profit sharing. It can go to you to set up your family, your friends, provide a legacy, whatever you, whatever you want. But the systems, the systems are what keep it flowing and busy is a trap. I've talked about that over and over. See, control is often disguised as care. And when I talk about this with owners, it often hits hard because I hear owners say all the time, well, I mean, no one does it like I do. I mean, I just don't want standards to slip. Well, I don't know. It's just going to be fancier faster if I handle it. And that is not leadership. That is control. That is micromanaging. That is you stepping in, being the hero, feeling like you're the only one who can do it. But see, leadership builds capability. Control preserves dependency. So if you like being relied on, if you like being the guy or the gal, the one that everyone's always got to come to, fine. But is a trap better for you to set up the systems, teach people what to do, when to do it, how to do it, explain why it's important that they do it the way that you've shown, and then what happens? And listen, I talk about Danny Meyer a lot. Danny Meyer figured this out. His first place opened in 1984. Didn't open the next one until the mid-90s, right? Union Square opened. And he talks about it in his book Setting the Table, that he didn't open a second place for a long time because he just simply didn't know how to. He didn't know how to be not needed at Union Square Cafe when he figured that out. Well, then we had Gramercy Tavern and eleven Madison park and Tabla and the Modern and Blue Smoke and on and on, multiple concepts when he figured it out. So I'm simply telling you it's not. It's not easy, but there is something simple about it. And luckily many, many others have come before you. Stephen Starr figured it out. Daniel Ballout has figured it out. Thomas Keller has figured it out. Right. Tom Douglas has figured it out. Danny Meyer has figured it out. There are tons of examples out there, even at the independent level, of people who have figured it out. You are not alone on an island. Just watch and see what they do. Real leadership builds capability. It empowers the people who work below you. I can't tell you how crucial that is. And here we get to the truth. You can't scale a restaurant that runs through you. You can't scale a restaurant that only runs with you if it runs through your brain. It's not running efficiently. Meaning, if knowledge lives only in your head, then growth will stall every time you try to do it. Stress will increase the more you try to grow. Burnout will accelerate with you and in everybody below you. Systems are how thinking gets transferred. That's the real job of an owner, right? When we say, well, work on your business instead of in your business, it's to take all your experience, insights, expertise. It's to take you and pour it into the manual, pour yourself into your managers. That's the only way that stress comes down. You start empowering your teams. There's a sense of ownership, and you can scale success successfully, efficiently, profitably. See, delegation fails when decision rights are unclear, meaning many owners delegate tasks. But not decisions. Perfect, perfect example of when this whole thing breaks down. Meaning managers execute, but then they wait. But true delegation defines what decisions people own, where the guardrails are and when escalation is required. And without that, everything is still going to root back to you. Now, let's talk about the fear behind this bottleneck, right? So let's. Let's say the quiet part out loud. Many owners fear that they will lose relevance, they will lose control, they will be replaced, they will become unnecessary. But here is the beautiful but uncomfortable truth. Being replaceable is the goal. Why? Because it means complete freedom. I want to say that again. Becoming replaceable is the ultimate goal. And if I haven't said that out loud, I'm shouting it. Freedom is the goal. The only way to. To really create freedom is when you are free from your places, when the places can run without you. I've said this over and over again. I'll reiterate it. Vision, oversight, and support. Vos, that is what you exist for. You provide a vision. You tell people where to look, when to look there, what to do, how to do it, when to do it, why to do it. And then you provide oversight, make sure it happens. And you provide support, right? Training, a friendly ear when people need it, Your job as an owner are only those three things. Vision, oversight, and support. And guess what? It's a pretty important job. It's a job that only you can do. And if you're not doing that, then that means nobody's doing it. Bottlenecks also cost more than money. They cost energy, both for you and your team. Creativity, yes, for you and your team. Perspective, yes for you and your team. And longevity. Longevity for your business. When you are the bottleneck, you can't possibly go any further. It's like trying to take a Camry 120 miles an hour just doesn't. It's not meant to do it. It's meant to go 70 miles an hour on the highway. Likewise, a Ferrari. When you get a Ferrari on the open highway and it's meant to go 120, 130, 140 miles an hour, in fact, a Ferrari isn't happy when it's going 60 miles an hour. It's going, come on, I know we can do more. So if you want to go further, you can't do it in a Camry. You have to upgrade to the Ferrari. You being a better leader is you becoming the Ferrari of your company. The systems, all of that will allow you the. Your ability to pour into people, your ability to guide Them and give them a sense of ownership through empowerment. All of that is connected to longevity. And the only way you do that is by removing yourself. The Camry is the bottleneck. Why can't we go 135 miles an hour? Because you're driving a Camry. But when you get out of the Camry, get into a Ferrari, meaning you do this leadership stuff we're talking about. You remove yourself from the operation. Well, then, man, then you're in the Ferrari, and you can go super fast. And by that, I mean you don't stall out at three locations. You're. You're still. You're still humming along at 40 locations. 50 locations. Just ask Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Danny Meyer, Kevin Boehm. See, restaurants don't usually fail from one bad decision. They fail from exhausted leadership. Bottlenecks are exhausting. We talk about these paradigm shifts. Here's the shift I want you to make. Your job is not to run the restaurant. Your job is to build something that runs without you. And that doesn't make you less important. It makes the business stronger. It makes you the most important piece to it, because you're the only one who can provide vision. You're the only one who can pour all of your experience and expertise into people. Again, your job is not to run the restaurant. Your job is to build something that runs without you. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to ask yourself, honestly, what decision am I holding on to that someone else could make? 80% as well. 80% was a number we kept talking about the entire time in Tulum. I give this to you, my gift from our leadership retreat. 80% is good enough. So what decision am I holding on to that someone else could do 80% as well? I promise you, for most of you, 80% is totally fine. See, that's where real growth is trapped. Believing that that last 20% is important, guess what? It's not. Liz Gilbert says this over and over again, right? It was something she got from her grandmother. Done is better than good. Can't make it good until it's done. So you get the first draft done. You get it done, and then you can improve it. So when somebody takes over and does things at 80% well, then your real job of oversight and support steps in, and you're like, that was really great. Congratulations. Can I help you get the last 20% there? Because then you will have the bandwidth to do that. If everything flows through you, nothing can grow beyond you. The fastest way to unlock your restaurant is to Stop being its narrowest point. Stop being the bottleneck. I share this, my biggest takeaway from the P3 leadership retreat with you. It was all about owners being the bottleneck. The bottleneck to their manager's growth, the bottleneck to their profitability, to their overall growth of their restaurant. If everything flows through you, nothing can grow beyond you. If you are struggling to dial in profits to grow your business, then you're listening to the Right podcast. And I appreciate you making this part of your week. If you want a community of committed people, if you want dedicated, experienced coaches in your corner, that's what the P3 mastermind is all about. We've put over 500 people through the program just over the last five years. We have doubled in size every single year. We have added three new coaches this year. We now do a summit every October. We now do a retreat every April. There's more stuff coming. You can't be a part of any of it unless you at least have a conversation with us. The P3 mastermind is the best way I know how to change restaurant owners lives, how to get them more money and ultimately give them more freedom. It's what this podcast episode is about. It's what my program is about. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com schedule grab time on the calendar. You'll chat with me or someone from my team. Let's just see if you're a good fit again. I appreciate you guys being here each and every week. I will see you on the next one. Sam. It.